Most Childhood Deaths In Auto Accidents Are Preventable

Free Consultation

Why Hire Us?

Vivian Finch

After falling on a cruise ship and being emergency evacuated to a hospital in Mexico, I was scared and needed help, especially because I am 89 years old. Michael worked non-stop, through the weekend, communicating internationally with stubborn insurance personnel who tried to put up roadblocks every step of the way. Read More

Each year in the U.S. about 12,200 children (ages 19 and below) die of unintentional injuries, especially car accident, while 830,000 children around the world die each year, according to a report released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in December 2008.

Experts are saying that 1,000 of these wrongful deaths can be prevented each day, including those that have happened in a car accident.

Our firm’s experienced car accident attorneys know that if you just take the proper safety measures and do not drive recklessly, then you too can be one of the smart and secure drivers out on the road. Your actions are what reduce the amount of children’s injuries that happen on the road.

“It is a huge public health concern, and I don’t think we pay as much attention to it as we should,” said a physician and epidemiologist at CDC as well as an author of this report.

For all children over 1-year old, car accidents are the leading cause of unintentional deaths. As car accident lawyers, we believe that to be a staggering and disturbing car accident statistic. The report goes on to say that car accident death rates are largely the same for all child age groups until they reach the 15-to-19 age group. Teenage death rates in car accidents increase six-fold when compared to the rates for all other children.

There are also other children’s age groups that are also of significant risk of injury in a car accident. Seat belts are one major area of concern for public health officials as they account for many preventable car accidents. For instance, about 90% of infants who are fatally injured in a car accident were in some sort of special seat or restraint (although not always properly used).

Once children grow a little older and can buckle and unbuckle their own seat belt, the risk of a wrongful death car accident goes up. Of the total number of children ages four and under killed, 30% were not wearing their seat belt. Teenage drivers and passengers were worse as half of their car accident deaths could be attributed to a failure to wear a seat belt.

Our car accident attorneys feel that the most staggering car accident statistic of all — which could easily prevent fatal car accidents — is that only 47% of children report always wearing seat belts when riding with others, compared with 82% of adults.

When adult drivers drive with more passengers, their driving gets safer. Yet when teen drivers add teen passengers, the risk of a car accident increases. The risk for an auto accident goes up four times as much with three or four passengers. Speeding and night driving are also greater statistical causes for car accidents amongst teen drivers. The fatal car accident risk for 16- and 17-year olds is three times as high at night than during the day. Text-messaging and talking on a cell phone are also new factors that are worrying public health officials.

“We are just beginning to look at those factors,” said an epidemiologist at the CDC. “We know that any kind of distraction is contributing to crashes in teens.”

Many states are helping to combat the problem of teenage driving by implementing graduated licenses, where teen drivers are not allowed to drive after midnight or with another teenage passenger. Our auto accident attorneys know the terrible car accident statistics and wrongful deaths that are a direct result of teen drivers. We are also alarmed by the complete lack of safe-thinking when a child is not wearing a seat belt. Car accidents happen way too often for people to forgo safety restraints that safe lives.

As a parent, how would you like to find out that your child is not wearing his or her seatbelt, before or after a car accident? Just to be on the safe side, protect you and your family with the best car insurance policy that you can find.

If you were injured and believe that you deserve compensation, then call our bilingual law offices right away at 1-858-551-2090 or click here for a free consultation with an experienced personal injury attorney and find out how we can help you. We look forward to providing good advice for your case. There is no fee if no recovery.

Related Posts

Recently, California’s Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) has made new rules that will attempt to protect patients’ from getting caught in a billing dispute between their health provider and their health insurance. The DMHC fights for patients’ rights in California and educates Californians on their health care rights and benefits. They make sure that…

Grab your tight shorts, a water bottle, and your two wheeler. Biking is one of the best ways to get around town, but it is also one of the easiest ways to get a personal injury that could send you to the hospital or even prove to be fatal in some instances. A biking accident…

Pain and suffering — we all have a pretty good idea of what it means, but it takes on a whole new definition when put in the context of the law or used in a court room. At that point, it can define a person’s life and how they are going to feel for the…

Anxious? Who, us? No…but that could all change the second you get into a car. You s0metimes do not know when a panic attack will overtake you or your passengers. Our firm’s car accident lawyers have seen many people suffer from anxiety disorders after being involved in a car accident, most often when the auto accident…

We often hear about men and women who return from a battlefield who have Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). What most people do not know is that it is possible to get PTSD from a car accident. Our personal injury lawyers know from experience that an auto accident can shake up a person’s life and forever…

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), car accidents are the top killers of 10-24 year olds worldwide, costing approximately 400,000 lives per year. In 2006, the USA had 42,642 deaths at the result of a police-reported car accident, says a 2006 NHTSA car safety factsheet. 35-40% of the fatalities caused by car accidents involving…

1. Car accident Insurance companies, even your own, are out to save money by paying you as little as possible. They take in billions of dollars each year, and when a person is hurt, sometimes the injured person is treated very unfairly by an auto accident insurance company, even their own. Why and how would they…

Auto Insurance Companies, the media (who thrive on “sensationalism” to get “ratings”) and Corporate America (such as tobacco companies) have spent millions to berate and belittle America’s 200 year old system for compensating injured people and those that carry the flag of justice, automobile accident attorneys. What is different about America compared to the rest…

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, in 2006 there were 2,575,000 people injured in car accidents. 42,642 of these car accident injuries were fatal, drunk-driving was the cause of 40% of these deaths, and not wearing a seat belt was the cause of 59% of these deaths. In fact, our firm’s auto accident attorneys know that the…

Car accidents are the leading cause of wrongful deaths among people between the ages of 16-20, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Approximately 3,500 teens die every year in car crashes (according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety). Of those car accidents, rollover car accidents account for 25 percent of all fatal teen related…